AAE Distance Graduate Education
The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, through Purdue Online, offers graduate level courses in aerospace engineering to earn a non-thesis master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics entirely via distance learning courses.
To pursue a non-thesis MS degree, students need to apply for admission to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics (July 1/November 1 deadlines) and be accepted following the same criteria as on-campus students. The program leads to the degree of Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics.
To earn a non-thesis MS degree, the student must:
- Take 10 courses (for a total of 30 credit hours)
- Select a major area of study in AAE (at least four courses)
- Select a minor area (at least two courses) and a minor area in Mathematics or Statistics (at least two courses)
- Select two technical elective courses (Engineering, Science or MATH/SAT)
The MS minor area is very flexible and can be in any broad area of Engineering and Sciences. More details can be found in the Rules and Regulations.
Once accepted to the MS program in AAE, the student will work with an AAE faculty member as the graduate committee advisor on course selection for the student's plan of study.
Purdue Online administers distance learning courses for Purdue Engineering and can answer questions about class registration, tuition and fees, course content delivery and other support functions for our distance learning courses.
In addition to the non-thesis MS degree, it is possible to pursue advanced studies relevant to aerospace engineering and earn an Interdisciplinary Master of Science in Engineering or a Master of Science degree from Purdue with a concentration in Aeronautics and Astronautics (see the Master of Science in Engineering Plan of Study for more details). You can also take graduate classes in a non-degree status to improve your knowledge in an area of interest; courses taken under non-degree status can be transferred to your degree if the grades are B or higher.
The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics also offers several non-credit short courses that allow students to increase their knowledge in specialized topics or gain an overview of new areas in aerospace engineering. These short courses are administered by Purdue Online, which maintains a list of all Professional Development Short Courses.